TYPES
OF DIVINATION
The invention of
divination is ascribed by some ancient writers to Prometheus, by to the
Phrygians or Etrurians; by Zoroaster, to Ahriman, the principle or angel of
darkness and evil; and likewise by the holy fathers of the Christian church to
the devil.
The following is a list of
some of the principal ancient methods of divination, many of which are still
familiar today.
ABACOMANCY: Telling the future by the way patterns of
dust are dispersed or layered, similar to reading tea leaves.
ACULTOMANCY: Use of needles for divination. The needles are placed in a shallow dish and
covered slowly with water; their movement is then observed. How they are crossed against each other is
then interpreted. For example, if one
needle crosses two it reveals that an enemy is working against you.
AEROMANCY: The art or science of divination by means of
the air or winds; weather forecasting.
AILUROMANCY: Divining using the actions and movements of
cats. A few examples are: it is bad luck to carry a stray cat into a
house; if a cat is cleaning itself against the grain, it indicates a coming
rain shower; if a cat sits or sleeps with its back to the fire, it signifies a
frost is coming. These beliefs are consistent
and widely dispersed.
ALECTOROMANCY,
ALECTRYOMANCY: A form of divination by
recording the letters revealed as a cock eats kernels of corn that cover them.
ALEUROMANCY: An old form of divination using meal or
flour. Derived from the Greek word aleuron, meaning flour, it involves looking
at the patterns formed when flour and water are mixed, swirled, then the liquid
dumped; similar to tea leaf readings. A
more common method, the precursor to Chinese fortune cookies, is to write a
statement on a small slip of paper and roll it in a ball of flour paste and
bake.
ALOMANCY: A form of divination involving the use of
salt. Also, halomancy.
ALPHITOMANCY: A form of divination involving the
examination of barley.
AMBULOMANCY: A form of divination involving walking in
circles. See also, gyromancy.
AMNIOMANCY: A form of divination involving examination of
the embryonic sac or amniotic fluid.
ANTHROCOMANCY: The art of divination through the study of
burning coals.
ANTHROPOMANCY: A form of divination using the entrails of
dead men.
ARITHMANCY: See, numerology.
ARMOMANCY: A form of divination involving the shoulders
of animals. See also, spatulamancy.
ASPIDOMANCY: A form of divination involving examination of
a shield.
ASTRAGALOMANCY: A form of divination involving dice or knuckle-bones,
in which letters are marked on the faces of the dice and the future is foretold
from the words formed as the dice fall.
See also, cleromancy.
ASTROLOGY: A form of divination involving the relative
positions of heavenly bodies.
ASTROMANCY: Divination by observation of the stars. See also, sideromancy.
AUGURY: The art of telling the future by means of
signs, originally the flight of birds; divination. An omen or potent from which the future is
foretold.
AUSTROMANCY: Divination by
observing the winds, specifically the south wind.
AXINOMANCY: A form of divination involving the use of an
ax-head.
BELOMANCY: Divination in which marks or words are placed
on arrows which are then drawn from a quiver at random.
BIBLIOMANCY: A form of divination using books or the Bible
in which passages are chosen at random and the future foretold from them.
BOTANOMANCY: A form of divination involving the
examination of plants.
CAPNOMANCY: A form of divination using smoke.
CARTOMANCY: A form of divination involving playing cards
or Tarot cards.
CATOPTROMANCY: A form of divination involving a crystal ball
or mirrors.
CEPHALOMANCY: Divination by examining the shape and
features of the head.
CERAUNOMANCY: Divination
involving thunder or thunderbolts.
CEROMANCY: A form of divination involving dropping
melted wax into water and then examining the shapes.
CHALCOMANCY: Divination through the use of brass vessels.
CHAOMANCY: Divination involving aerial visions.
CHIROMANCY: Palmistry.
Also called, cheiromancy.
CHRONOMANCY: A divination to determine the precise time
for action.
CLEIDOMANCY: Divination involving a key or keys.
CLEROMANCY: See, astragalomancy.
COSCINOMANCY: A form of divination involving a sieve and
shears.
CRITHOMANCY: Divination involving the strewing of grain
over the bodies of sacrificed animals.
CRYSTALLOMANCY: Divination involving crystal-gazing.
CUBOMANCY: A form of divination involving the use of
thrown dice.
DACTYLIOMANCY: Divination involving the use of finger rings.
DEMONOMANCY: A form of divination involving a demon or
demons.
EMPYROMANCY: Divination involving fire and smoke.
ENOPTROMANCY: A form of divination involving a mirror and
its reflections.
EXTISPICY: See, haruscpicy.
GASTROMANCY: Divination involving listening to stomach
sounds; also, divination by gazing into a crystal ball or a glass full of
water.
GELOSCOPY,
GELOTOSCOPY: Divination that determines
a person’s character or future from the way he or she laughs.
GENETHLIALOGY: See, astrology.
GEOMANCY: A form of divination that analyzes the
pattern of a handful of earth thrown down at random or of dots made at random
on paper.
GRAPHOLOGY: Divination involving the analysis of
handwriting; a technique of personality analysis involving the use of
handwriting. Also, graptomancy.
GRAPTOMANCY: See, graphology
GYROMANCY: A form of divination involving walking in a
circle. See also, ambulomancy.
HALOMANCY: See, alomancy.
HARIOLATION: The act or art of prognostication or
divination; soothsaying.
HARUSPICY: A form of divination from lightning and other
natural phenomena, but especially from inspection of the entrails of animal sacrifices.
HEMATOMANCY: Divination by means of blood.
HIEROMANCY: Divination involving sacrificial remains or
sacred objects.
HIPPOMANCY: A form of divination involving the
observation of horses, especially listening to their neighing.
HOROSCOPY: The art of casting horoscopes or divinations
based upon the relative positions of heavenly bodies; the position of the sun
and stars at the time of a person’s birth.
HYDROMANCY: A form of divination involving the
observation of water or of other liquids.
ICHNOMANCY: The analysis of the personality and
appearance of people by studying their footprints.
ICTHYOMANY: Divination involving the head or entrails of
a fish.
IDOLOMANCY: A form of divination involving idols.
LAMPADOMANCY: A form of divination involving observation of
the flame of a torch or lamp.
LECANOMANCY: Divination involving the examination of water
in a basin.
LITHOMANCY: Divination involving rocks or stones.
LOGARITHMOMANCY: A form of divination involving logarithms.
LOGOMANCY: Divination involving the observation of words
and discourse.
LYCHNOMANCY: See, lampadomancy.
MANTICISM: The art of divination and prophecy.
MANTOLOGY: Obsolete. The art of fortune-telling.
MARGARITOMANCY: Divination involving the examination of pearls.
METEROMANCY: Divination involving the observation of
meteors.
METOPOMANCY: Rare. A form of divination involving examination of
facial features.
MOLYBDOMANCY: Rare. Divination involving observation of the
movements of molten lead.
MOROMANCY: Divination that is flawed or foolish.
MYOMANCY: Divination through the observation of the
movements of mice.
NECROMANCY: Divination accomplished through communication
with the dead; the magic practiced by a witch or sorcerer. Also, nigromancy.
NEPHELOGNOSY: Divination by the observation of clouds.
NOMANCY: A form of divination involving the
examination of letters, possibly from a graphological point of view. Also, onomancy.
NUMEROLOGY: Divination involving numbers.
OENOMANCY: A form of divination involving analysis of
the colors and features of wine.
OMOPLATOSCOPY: Divination
involving the examination of shoulder blades.
Also, spatulamancy.
OMPHALOMANCY: A form of divination in which the number of
knots in a newborn’s umbilical cord are counted to foretell the number of
children the mother will have later.
ONEIROMANCY: Divination involving the analysis of dreams.
ONOMANCY: Divination involving the letters of a name.
ONYCHOMANCY: A form of divination involving the
examination of the fingernails.
OOMANCY: Divination involving eggs.
OPHIOMANCY: Divination involving snakes.
ORNITHOMANCY: A form of divination involving the
observation of birds, especially birds in flight.
OSTEOMANCY: Divination by the examination of bones.
PALMISTRY: Divination involving analysis of the features
of the hand, especially of its various lines.
PEDOMANCY: A form of divination involving the study of
the soles of the feet. Also called, podomancy.
PEGOMANCY: Divination through the observation of springs
or fountains.
PESSOMANCY: A form of divination involving pebbles; the
study of marks made on pebbles with are drawn at random from a container. Also, psephology.
PHYLLOMANCY: Divination through the examination of leaves.
PSEUDOMANCY: Divination that is deliberately false or
misleading.
PSYCHOMANCY: See, necromancy.
PYROMANCY: Divination involving fire or flames.
PYTHONISM: Divination after the manner of Pythia, the
Delphic priestess.
RHABDOMANCY: Divination involving a rod or wand,
especially to locate object or materials beneath the ground, as water or
precious metals; dowsing.
RHAPSODOMANCY: Divination involving written verses.
SCAPULOMANCY: See, spatulamancy.
SCATOMANCY: Divination involving the examination of
excrement.
SCHEMATOMANCY: Divination of a person’s future through
observation of physical appearance.
SCIOMANCY: Divination through observation of
shadows. See also, necromancy.
SCYPHOMANCY: Divination involving the use of a cup.
SELENOMANCY: Divination involving observation of the moon.
SIBYL: In ancient Greece and Rome, a woman with
oracular or prophetic powers, the most celebrated being that of Cumae and
Delphi.
SIBYLLIST: A believer in or follower of the sibyls; a
believer in their prophecies.
SIDEROMANCY: Chiefly, astromancy;
also, a form of divination involving
observation of the sparks, shapes formed, etc., when straws are burnt against a
red-hot iron.
SORTILEGE: Divination involving the drawing of lots.
SPASMATOMANCY: A form of divination used to foretell disease
by observing the spasms or twitching of the potential victim’s body.
SPATILOMANCY: Divination through the observation of animal
feces.
SPATULAMANCY: A form of divination by means of an animal’s
shoulder blade. Also, aromancy, omoplatoscopy.
SPODOMANCY: Divination through the use of ashes.
STERNOMANCY: Divination involving the examination of the
breastbone.
STICHOMANCY: Divination involving lines of poetry or
passages from books.
STIGNOMANCY: A form of divination involving the
examination of writing on or carving in the bark of a tree.
SYCOMANCY: Divination involving figs or fig leaves.
TASSEOGRAPHY: Divination through interpretation of the
shapes made by used tea leaves.
TELEGNOSIS: Clairvoyance or other occult or supernatural
knowledge.
TEPHRAMANCY: A form of divination involving the ashes
remaining after a sacrifice.
THEOMANCY: Divination involving the responses of oracles
or soothsayers.
THERIOMANCY: Divination involving wild beasts; observation
of the movements of wild animals.
TYROMANCY: A form of divination involving the
observation of cheese, especially as it coagulates.
UROMANCY: Rare. Divination through the observation of urine.
XYLOMANCY: Divination involving pieces of wood.
ZOOMANCY: Divination involving the observation of
animals or their movements under particular circumstances.
Copyright (c) 2010-2015 by Alyne Pustanio and Creole Moon Publications.
Reproduction and/or dissemination of all or part of this article without the
expressed written consent of the copyright holder(s) in prohibited by law.
Violators will be prosecuted.
No comments:
Post a Comment